Ðarĸ Mooɴ
by Katfosel
Summary: Asura's threat has been removed, and the world has begun to heal. The best time to strike, however, is when the enemy is on its knees - and this is the opportune moment for a new enemy, one whom the Earth has not seen for centuries. This time, however, the enemy does not want the world; he wants Kid.
1. Delirium

_Wai herro thar. C:_

_First off, thank you muchly for clicking on this story. I have worked long and hard on it, and I hope it will do you fans proud ;v;_

_Secondly, my updating schedule will be thusly: I will post a new chapter every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday (hopefully - sometimes Sundays don't work out :L). This story (and its sequel, and third-quel, and fourth-quel) was my NaNoWriMo - National Novels Writing Month - project. At the moment I'm working on the second part, Crescent Moon, and the third installation shall most likely be finished soon after :D_

_Third-a-mundo, I have been known for one of the most extreme cases of short-attention-span EVER. So if I forget an update day I am very sorry. ;w; I will do my best to get each chapter to you ASAP._

_Fourtheth, This is a little test to see if you guys like my current writing style, in all honesty. I was rereading the original Dark Moon and found I actually liked parts of it better than I liked the rewrite xD Plus there's the advantage of already being DONE so I don't have to work on it any more. I mean, I wrote the damn thing once - writing it again has gotten annoying. -_-_

_Fifth-leeee, I hope you enjoy! ;3;_

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**MOON**

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**_Dark_  
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Delirium **;;** state of mental disarray and unstable consciousness.

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* * *

_"Oh- oh, Death!"  
"Someone get him!"  
"They're back-"  
"Nygus, get over here!"  
"Someone hurry, I think he's blacking out-"_

* * *

Everything hurt. He tried cracking open his eyes, only to recoil at the intense glare that burned his pupils and made him want to flinch. When he tried to twitch his cheek muscles, prickling sharp pain burned its way across his face, making him feel vividly every tiny cut and bruise. When he tried to recover feeling in his muscles, fire shot through every nerve ending, almost enducing a scream.

The only problem? He was numb now, all over, couldn't feel and couldn't see. He _couldn't_ scream. All he could do was let the pain wash over him, and drag him into darkness.

* * *

Kid awoke to bright light, and this time when he winced, it didn't carve pain into his face like it had on his last attempt. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but whimpered (humiliating) and fell back before he had made it two centimeters.

"He's awake!"

"Strap him down, he's a danger to himself. He'll only start bleeding again if he moves too much."

The dazed reaper tried to pick out which voice was which. Was that… Nygus? And maybe his dad? No, slightly lower… BlackStar? Or… someone…

He blacked out once again.

* * *

It seemed his entire existence for that first mind-numbing week was all pain and flashes of consciousness between long periods of dark silence. Explosions wracked his inner eyes, all silent but frightening nonetheless. Asura's face floated before him, mad cackles wrenching the air – the only noise audible to his sleep-muffled ears.

"Wh'rm… I…" he remember mumbling once, lifting his head and seeing only hazy pictures of light, cream walls… horrible asymmetrical racks of medicine…

He wasn't allowed to sit up, however, until the day he had fully regained consciousness. To his hidden embarrassment, there were still restraining straps binding his wrists to the bed. "Are these necessary?" he'd complained.

"Of course," Nygus admonished. "You can't be allowed to move around, you'll aggravate your wounds even more."

To this he grumbled and closed his eyes, hoping against hope that he'd be _allowed_ out of the damn place soon enough.

* * *

Two weeks to the day since he'd been dragged, bleeding and dying into the hospital of the DWMA, Kid was released back into the world. He wasn't _allowed_ (he really wished people would stop lording that word over him, as if now that he was an invalid, he was beneath ALL of them) anywhere without his guards, Liz and Patty. Sometimes they traded off with Maka and Soul, or BlackStar and Tsubaki, but whoever it was following him around they never ceased to annoy him.

He was also not _allowed_ back to Gallows Mansion. Apparently the wound was still tender enough that venturing beyond the boundaries of the Academy campus was strictly forbidden. There, another word everyone loved to toss at him. 'Forbidden'.

"COME ON, YOU'LL BE BACK ON YOUR FEET SOON ENOUGH!" BlackStar bellowed into his ear one day, thinking with his few brain cells that it would cheer the reaper up. All it served to do was irritate Kid, who batted the annoying assassin away and snapped,

"I _am_ back on my feet! Everyone's just ordering me around and confining me here."

"For good reason," Tsubaki said gently, hoping to reassure him.

None of their efforts were very reassuring, honestly. Kid merely huffed and stomped off, albeit with a slight limp that rather ruined the effect. "I don't need guards," he'd muttered crossly.

Seeing as no-one knew the solution to the problem, they tried turning to the only one who could possibly help them – another reaper. To the disappointment of Kid's friends and teachers, Lord Death had no answer other than to shrug and announce cheerfully that "Kiddo'll get over it, he's just a little traumatized!"

No amount of haggling and asking could tempt him to admit what Kid was traumatized over. Specifically, that is. Everyone knew about the obvious Asura part.

Once, in an overwhelming show of stupidity, BlackStar came right out and asked Kid directly what he was traumatized about.

"What?" Kid asked, eyebrow raising dangerously. "Traumatized?"

"Yeah!" nodded BlackStar enthusiastically. "Lord Death said the only reason you're moping is because you're traumatized, so I wanna know what for so I can beat them to a pulp and get you running around happily ever after!"

"That's nice of you." The assassin started to grin and nod, but faltered when he saw Kid's eyes glint evilly. "However, I do not think you should be asking to be privy to my secrets when I so obviously want to keep them hidden. I will now politely ask you to _get out._"

BlackStar gulped, and glanced around the balcony they were standing on, at one of the highest levels of the DWMA. "C'mon, man. Just spill and you'll feel better!"

"I doubt it," Kid responded dryly. "Now…" In a flash of movement, he'd kicked BlackStar over the railing. "I would recommend getting a tattoo on your other shoulder. It would make you much more bearable." Then he walked off casually, hands in the pockets of his favorite black pants, until he stopped and saw the _awful_ state of the mission board.

**"HOW COULD HE?!"**

The shrieks rang through all of the halls, and Academy students began to cluster, wondering at the source of these sounds – like dying cats! When it turned out it was only Death the Kid, obsessively rearranging all of the little cards on the mission board (where'd he conjure that ladder from?), most just laughed it off and went on their merry way.

Liz spent the rest of the evening trying (most unsuccessfully) to pry her partner away from his most recent project, cleaning off the entire board of the huge electric blue star that _someone_ had spray-painted on there.

BlackStar spent the rest of the evening hiding around a corner, clutching both a bottle of electric blue spray-paint and his sides as he laughed his head off.

That is, until Kid finished, found the culprit, and beat him to a pulp until both assassin and reaper were passed out on the hallway floor.

(Kid had aggravated one of his wounds and promptly fainted on the spot.)

* * *

_First chapter, woo! *pant pant* Well, it has started once more. }:) Get ready for the ride of your life, little Kiddo... /cackles madly/_

_**Kat**_


	2. Acquiesce

_Hmm. These look a lot longer on Microsoft Word. ^^;_

_But on the bright side... there are exactly 8 reviews for this story! *dies of happiness* Oh, and..._

_Did I go against my own schedule? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Maybe I'll change it just to irk you all. xD Yeah, well, turns out Mom shipped me to my Dad's without warning, meaning I left my laptop behind... so that's my lame excuse. Sorta. That and the fact that I'm lazy. And stuff. Ugh. _

_AND I'M STILL STUCK ON CHAPTER ONE OF CRESCENT MOON. *cries* I totally flunked NaNoWriMo._

_So yeah. Enough with my crappy life, on with the story **; 3 ;**_

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**MOON**

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**_Dark_  
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Acquiesce **;;** to accept passively; to comply

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* * *

"Finally!"

Kid rolled his eyes and stressed the word, cocking an eyebrow at a nervous, fidgeting Maka, who had come to deliver the news that he was allowed to return to Gallows Mansion. "Now what's the catch, hmm? I know my father too well, it's only been three weeks."

"We've been ordered to stay with you," Maka mumbled.

Kid's eyebrow twitched and lowered back to its usual position. "Did he now."

"Uh- yeah."

"Interesting."

Then he spun on his heel and quickly rummaged through a backpack of things Liz and Patty had brought him, muttering under his breath until with an "Aha!" he found what he was looking for.

"Voila," he announced, returning to the scythe meister and presenting her with a book that could easily contain a thousand pages. "House rules."

BlackStar and Soul, who had been hovering nearby, dashed over with that look in their eyes. The oh-crap-what-have-we-done look. Quickly scanning the first page, Soul whined, "B-but- dude, there's gotta be like five thousand rules in there!"

"It's bigger than Excalibur's book of rules," BlackStar whispered in horror.

Kid nodded proudly. "He inspired me to write these up, you know. Took me the better part of a week to go over and refine it. Look, I made copies for all of you!" Somehow he magically produced three more gigantic books and passed them over to BlackStar, Soul, and Tsubaki. "Liz and Patty can help you with any questions you might have."

Liz rolled her eyes and grinned at their dumbstruck friends.

"He's kidding, right?" Soul pleaded with her. "He's got to be joking."

She shook her head sagely, and Patty giggled, "We already read them. Don't bother with numbers four hundred and thirty, six hundred nineteen, or one thousand two hundred and twenty one. They're already school rules that you know." With that, both sisters waved and dashed off after their errant meister, who had disappeared to go rearrange all of the books in his private library.

Maka, busy analyzing a page in the book, announced suddenly, "This is actually kinda interesting. Kid has a private library? Ooh, and look at the number of rooms in his mansion. This is a breeze."

Soul peeked over her shoulder, and promptly almost died of shock. "What the- how the hell are you already on rule sixty?! You've only been reading for five minutes!"

"Honestly," his meister sighed, leveling a stern glare at her partner. "It's not that hard."

"Not that-" spluttered the albino scythe. "Dear God, woman."

"I'm back!"

Everyone looked up at the cheerful voice to see Patty bulldozing down poor N.O.T. students on her way to the gang. "AND I BROUGHT YOU A PRESENT!"

Behind her she dragged Kid, who was wailing and crying something awful. "Pattyyyyyy, I didn't finish with the G's! The books need me! Balance, Patty, _balance!"_

"Oh shush," she reprimanded happily. "We're gonna play with the others. You need some sunlight." She poked his bare arm, almost as pale as the bleach white shirt he wore. He'd rolled the sleeves up to his shoulders, clearly thinking library tidying as a hardcore job.

"I told you already, UV rays have no effect on me. Cold, hot, I could care less," he grumbled, standing up and brushing dust off his pants, then spinning on his heel to face the assembled quartet. "Well? Basketball? I may not need sunlight, but some excersize would do me good."

BlackStar leaped to his feet, snorting smoke out his nostrils. "YOU'RE ON!" With a roar, he sped down the extensive steps of the DWMA, knocking over the recently recovered N.O.T. students once again. Tsubaki followed acrobatically, sweatdropping and apologizing to any N.O.T. she passed.

Kid was next, flipping over the students rather than bulldozing them, so quick that most just thought it was a shadow flickering over their heads. Next was Patty, who cackled and ran in a handstand position for about four feet before getting tired and hitching a ride on Maka's back, who just laughed and carried to tuckered-out childish weapon the rest of the way. Soul was in scythe mode, held by Maka, who was athletic enough to carry the light weight of Patty as well as her weapon.

Liz, it seemed, had heard of Kid's plan beforehand and simply took a taxi to the basketball courts from Gallows Mansion.

"LET'S CREAM THEM!" BlackStar hollered, running around and flapping his arms ridiculously.

"First let's decide teams," Soul pointed out dryly.

"Oh yeah…"

As the gang laughed and messed around, Kid felt a shiver creep up his neck. Narrowing his eyes, he whipped around to stare at a patch of shadows between two buildings, seeking out the slightest bit of movement with his keen vision. There was none.

Giving the area a last suspicious sweep, he turned his attention back to the game.

A man, holding his rifle in one hand and a knife in the other, poked his head out and smirked, then retreated back into the shadows of the alley. From his jacket pocket, he produced a tiny silver coin. Flipping it, he disappeared in a lightning-quick flash.

**. . .**

Far away, in a cave deep between worlds, a small wisp of purple smoke curled around a basin of water. In it, an image of Kid floated. The smoke disturbed the water, sending ripples through the image, shattering it.

A wave of cold washed over the cave, and as if on cue a deep voice let out a sinister, dark chuckle.

_I'm back, Death… you'd better hope that you can defeat me on your own this time…_

* * *

_This is fucking short. Gah. *shoots self* Sorry for the wait and then... this. **; ~ ;** Oh, and if you hadn't noticed, I'm DarkKittehKat - I changed my pen name in honor of this story. You'll all become quite well acquainted with the fictional Katfosel over the next three parts of 'Moon'... *cackles*_

_Yippe Ki-yay~_

_**Katfosel**  
_


	3. Resolve

_Oh God, I'm so sorry. *dies* I totally meant to update sooner, I swear. But my laptop kept dying on me. Again and again and again and again. I HATE IT._

_But yeah. I received quite a few reviews asking where Kid got his injuries, and NOW I FEEL SO DUMB. I'm so sorry! I totally forgot, on the original Dark Moon I added the fact that this takes place after the anime. I was so caught up in the rewrite part of this version that I completely forgot to mention that. - _ - ; Again, real sorry D:_

_SO without further ado, I present... the next chapter of Dark Moon~_

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**MOON**

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**_Dark_  
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Resolve **;;** to make clear, understandable

* * *

"Well? Are you coming or what?"

Kid rolled his eyes at the abrasive voice. "I'll be right there," he called back. "Just something I want to check out." Muttering under his breath abount irritating ninjas, he shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way over to the suspicious alley he'd been eyeing earlier.

Stretching out his soul perception, the reaper strained to pick up anything. Kneeling down on the cobblestone, he felt the rocks gently and breathed a slight sound of triumph. Dropping back into a crouch, he eyed the strange red dust he'd picked up on his fingers.

"Not from around here," he breathed. "How intriguing." Glancing up and around, he rubbed the dust between pale fingers then brushed it off and stood up, letting out a small huff. "I'll do some more investigating later."

He held out his hands, ready to perform the few movements that would summon his father in a wall of purple light, but froze.

_Wait… now I'm getting something._ He spun around and swept his gaze over the rooftops across the square. _Someone's watching me._ Spinning to face the other direction, the reaper whirled back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source.

"Where are you?" he mumbled, eyes narrowing further and further. He'd almost got it when-

"Kid!"

The loud yell broke his concentration and he quickly faced the direction it was coming from. "Do you mind? I'm trying-"

That moment of diverted attention gave the perfect opening. A gunshot rang out, and Kid barely had time to stumble back, hands outstretched mid-gesture. The bullet ripped across the backs of both hands, which he had been waving at the one who had broke his concentration.

Eyes widening impossibly far, Kid choked on air and crumpled, fiery pain racing from his hands to his heart. Vaguely, he recognized it as a soul powered bullet, and tried to push the agony back, but it was in vain.

The soft tide of black washed over his vision and Maka's scream muffled and died.

* * *

"Kid? Kid! Wake up!"

Groaning, Kid shook his head, trying to will the distorted voice away. "Tired…" he breathed.

"I know, but you gotta get up!"

"Fine…"

Stirring, Kid cracked his eyes open and winced, and immediately déjà vu swept over him. It was just like waking up in the hospital wing of the DWMA and the light blinding him. Then a breeze swept over his face and his eyes shot open all the way, and he sat up with a gasp.

"Sniper!"

"We know," Tsubaki soothed, placing a warm hand on his shoulder. "Someone shot at you from a rooftop and you collapsed. Maka and Soul went after them, but couldn't find anyone."

Kid groaned again. "Of course they couldn't," he said bitterly, mostly to himself. "Whoever he is, he's good. He evaded my soul perception for quite a while, and if it weren't for BlackStar distracting me I would have had him… Gah." He punched himself lightly in the head, then gasped at the pain in his hands.

Tsubaki's eyes glinted and she gathered up her motherly aura. "Stay still! And don't move your hands. Whatever was in that bullet, your body doesn't like it."

"Show me," he muttered. When she didn't reply, he said louder, "Show me!"

Sighing, the weapon unwrapped the bandages on his hands, wrinkling her nose at their blood-stained state. Kid stared numbly at his wounds. That soul bullet had corrupted his immune system in the immediate area somehow, turning his blood black. It wasn't the kind of black blood that Crona had, rather his own dark version – something only reapers had.

"Damnit," he swore softly, and Tsubaki jumped as he broke the silence. She eyed him anxiously – Kid never swore, what was so bad now?

"Are you going to be okay?"

He blinked at her, as if just remembering that she was there. "Hm? Oh, yes." Sighing, he got to his feet and realized where he was; in his bedroom in Gallows Mansion. The large windows were open, and he immediately scanned the surrounding roofs, reaching out with soul perception as well.

"There's no-one there," Tsubaki reassured him, seeing what he was so tense about. "Maka and BlackStar are on the roof-" she gestured to the ceiling vaguely "-and they're on guard, so they'll know if anyone tries to sneak up on this place."

He shook his head. "It won't be enough. Not if what I think is out there is true." Then he sighed and turned his back to the wall, rubbing his face. Slowly he let his legs fold and slid down the wall to sit in a tight curled position. "I can't believe it."

"Is something wrong?" she ventured.

Kid nodded, numb. "I- I have to call Father." Staggering to his feet once more, he made his way unsteadily out of the room.

"Wait!" Tsubaki ran after him. "You've lost some blood, and I need to re-bandage your hands-"

"It can wait," he replied, descending the stairs to the basement. "Go inform Maka and BlackStar that they don't have to stand watch. If you can find Liz or Patty, tell them it's okay to go into the emergency lunch stores. Get something to eat. Don't mess up my kitchen." And with that, he opened a mysterious door at the foot of the steps and was gone.

Tsubaki's troubled purple gaze watched the black door, engraved with a silver skull and several creepy markings, before she turned and raced off to find her meister.

* * *

"So who do you think our mystery attacker is?" Maka questioned Lord Death. They'd eaten lunch, then watched some TV for a while, but Kid still had not emerged from the depths of the basement. Liz and Patty didn't seem too worried, and advised the others to just relax for a while. Maka, the ever-dutiful scholar, was too troubled to relax, and so contacted Lord Death via one of the big mirrors in the living room. The rest of the gang (save Kid) had reluctantly gathered to hear what the reaper had to say.

Lord Death shrugged, but he was decidedly less cheerful than normal. "I dunno about the sniper, but Kiddo called me earlier with a theory of who was behind it. If he's right… I shudder to think about it."

"What could be so scary it's got two Grim Reapers frightened?" BlackStar questioned, his tone scornful.

The elder Reaper shrugged. "Sorry, that's classified at the moment. I should have known Ka- he'd be back…"

Maka raised an eyebrow. "'Ka'?"

"Forget I said anything," Lord Death said hastily. "If he's really returned, rest assured I'll contact you. Until I have solid proof… I'm afraid I will not disclose this information. Have a good evening!" With a wave, the connection was cut, and the mirror went dark.

"Hmmm…" The scythe meister settled onto the arm of a nearby couch and fingered one of her pigtails, deep in thought. "I'd go up to the Academy library, but it's closed… and Kid isn't here, so I can't ask him if I can use his."

"Oh, you can." Liz waved her off dismissively. "He won't mind. Just don't mess up his perfect order-" she said this with air quotes "-and put everything back exactly where you found it so he won't pass out and open a wound or something.

Maka laughed. "Will do. Where is it?"

"I'll show ya~" Patty said cheerfully, grabbing the meister's hand and dragging her off. The others immediately began haggling over TV options.

"Say Yes to the Dress!"

"Come on, Liz. We should watch AFV."

"I VOTE FOR DOOMSDAY PREPPERS!"

* * *

The wisp of purple smoke was no longer a wisp, more like a veritable cloud. It swirled over the water basin, chuckling evilly once again.

_Doomsday, the ignorant brat says. Doomsday he shall get._

* * *

_So yeah. xD I'll do better next time hopefully ; - ;__  
_

_**Katfosel**  
_


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